Cell phone multimedia controller

ABSTRACT

A system and method is provided for remotely controlling and interacting with a multimedia device using a mobile phone. This is accomplished by utilizing cell and mobile phones capable of establishing persistent Internet connections. A software application is provided for the mobile phone that receives inputs entered by a user on the mobile phone&#39;s keypad and translates the inputs into commands that are recognized by a multimedia device. For example, the multimedia device may be a television, set top box, or a digital video recorder such as a Tivo or ReplayTV. The software application transmits the data input by the user to the device, either directly, or through at least one central server. Mapping of the commands entered on the mobile phone into commands recognized by the remote device may occur on the phone, at a central server, or at the device itself.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/837,236, filed Apr. 30, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.8,014,768 which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.60/467,256, filed on Apr. 30, 2003, both of which are hereinincorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates to new systems and methods for remotelyinteracting with or controlling multimedia devices.

Currently, many interactive experiences are limited to more widespreaduse due to the cost and design of the user input devices required forthe interactive experience. For example, the number of controller portslimits the number of simultaneous players on video game consoles. Touchscreens are limited to only one or two users at a time.

There are examples of video games in which twenty-or so people play agame on a single, large screen. The game controls are installed in theseats and were wired directly to the system playing the game. However,in large public venues, like theme parks, it is quite cost prohibitiveto provide custom input mechanisms for crowds of people.

Remote controls and video-game controllers are well understoodtechnology. On TV set-top boxes, if multi-controller systems are offeredat all, the remote controls are limited by the strength of their signalemitters and the number of unique device ID's available.

It is therefore desired to create location-based multimedia and gameapplications with a shared user interface. The user interface should beextremely inexpensive to the content creators and venues. The interfaceneeds to provide simultaneous user participation with an infinitelyscalable number of users.

SUMMARY

In summary, one aspect provides a method of remotely controlling aremote device using a mobile phone, comprising: accepting a persistentnetwork connection at a central server from at least one mobile phone;receiving commands at the central server from the mobile phone throughthe persistent connection; providing software configured to translatethe commands received from the mobile phone into commands recognized bythe remote device; and transmitting the commands recognized by theremote device to the remote device through a communications network.

Another aspect provides a method of remotely controlling a multimediadevice using a mobile phone, comprising: receiving at least one inputfrom a user at a mobile phone, the input representative of aninstruction intended for a remotely located multimedia device;translating the at least one input into an outgoing command, theoutgoing command being in a format recognized by the remotely locatedmultimedia device; and transmitting the outgoing command to the remotelylocated multimedia device.

A further aspect provides a method of controlling a multimedia deviceusing a mobile phone, comprising: creating a persistent Internetconnection via a mobile phone to a multimedia device; mapping keys ofthe mobile phone to various commands and generating an identifier foreach key pressed; transmitting the identifier over the Internet to themultimedia device; interpreting the identifier; and performing anappropriate command at a multimedia device in a remote location.

A still further aspect provides a method of participating in aninteractive experience, comprising: creating a persistent networkconnection via a mobile phone to a server; viewing a presentation on adisplay, the presentation including prompts for a user to interact with;and interacting with the presentation by pressing keys on the mobilephone, each of the keys programmed to generate an identifier; whereinthe identifier being transmitted through the persistent Internetconnection to the server where the identifier is translated into anappropriate response for the interactive experience.

The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications,generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is notintended to be in any way limiting.

For a better understanding of the embodiments, together with other andfurther features and advantages thereof, reference is made to thefollowing description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment in accordance withthe present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a user interface asdisplayed by the client application.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment in accordance withthe present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment in accordance withthe present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment in accordance withthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of exemplary embodiments, reference is madeto the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof, and in which areshown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the presentdisclosure may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized and structural and functional changes may bemade without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments, asgenerally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may bearranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations inaddition to the described example embodiments. Thus, the following moredetailed description of the example embodiments, as represented in thefigures, is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments, asclaimed, but is merely representative of example embodiments.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” (or the like) means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment” or the like in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided to give athorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant artwill recognize, however, that the various embodiments can be practicedwithout one or more of the specific details, or with other methods,components, materials, et cetera. In other instances, well-knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail to avoid obfuscation.

The present disclosure provides a method of controlling and interactingwith a multimedia device though use of a mobile phone. Software isprovided to a mobile phone which simulates the use of a remote control.This is accomplished by utilizing cellular and/or mobile phones capableof establishing Internet connections. A software application is providedfor the mobile phone which receives inputs entered by a user on themobile phone's keypad and translates the inputs into commands that arerecognized by a multimedia device. For example, the multimedia devicemay be a television, set top box, or a digital video recorder such as aTivo or ReplayTV. The software application transmits the data input bythe user to the device, either directly, or through at least one centralserver. Mapping of the commands entered on the mobile phone intocommands recognized by the remote device may occur on the phone, at acentral server, or at the device itself. A user can thereby utilizetheir mobile phone to instruct devices at home such as their televisionor audio/video recorder in the same way as if they were at home usingthe device's remote control.

An embodiment provides a method whereby 21/2 and 3G mobile phones areused to control separate multimedia devices. 3G is a term for acollection of standards and technologies which are used to enhanceperformance on mobile phone networks and increase data speed. 3Gwireless promises increased bandwidth of up to 384 Kbps when a device isstationary or moving at pedestrian speed, 128 Kbps in a car, and 2 Mbpsin fixed applications. 3G will work over wireless air interfaces such asWCDMA, GSM(GPRS), and TDMA. The new EDGE (for Enhanced Data for GSMEnvironment) air interface has been developed specifically to meet thebandwidth needs of 3G mobile phones.

Using the wireless Internet connectivity built into these phones, amobile phone becomes a ubiquitous, portable multimedia and gamecontroller. This allows users a portable, hugely scalable, sharedmultimedia experiences.

For example, use of the present invention could enable large audiencesupwards of 800 people to simultaneously play a game displayed on an IMAXscreen. What makes this idea important is that the IMAX venue would nothave to purchase, install, distribute or maintain the game controllersfor all those people. This cost savings makes new and excitinginteractive multimedia shows financially feasible. New shows couldeasily be developed for this system.

The present invention could be used to interact and control manydifferent types of multimedia devices. The present invention could beused to interact with features or applications on one's home computer. Aset top box, or video recorder such as a Tivo or ReplayTV unit could becontrolled or directed to record remotely through the use of one'smobile phone. In general, any device connected to a network could beremotely operated through commands on a mobile phone.

A system and method is provided for remotely controlling and interactingwith a multimedia device using a mobile phone. This is accomplished byutilizing cellular and/or mobile phones capable of establishingpersistent Internet connections. A software application is provided forthe mobile phone which receives inputs entered by a user on the mobilephone's keypad and translates the inputs into commands that arerecognized by a multimedia device. For example, the multimedia devicemay be a television, set top box, or a digital video recorder such as aTivo or ReplayTV. The software application transmits the data input bythe user to the device, either directly, or through at least one centralserver. Mapping of the commands entered on the mobile phone intocommands recognized by the remote device may occur on the phone, at acentral server, or at the device itself. A user can thereby utilizetheir mobile phone to instruct devices at home such as their televisionor audio/video recorder in the same way as if they were at home usingthe device's remote control.

A modified block diagram of an exemplary embodiment for remotelycontrolling devices using a mobile phone is illustrated in FIG. 1.

A plurality of mobile phones 100 are shown. Client application 110 isinstalled on mobile phone 100. In an exemplary embodiment, clientapplication 110 provides a user interface on the mobile phone displaywhich provides the user with the ability to enter commands to a remotedevice. For example, the application 110 may list a number of commandsand the input key, such as the number on the key pad that corresponds toeach command. FIG. 2 shows examples of what a user interface might looklike.

In one embodiment, the client application 110 is a single applicationwhich provides options to enter commands for a plurality of differentremote devices. In another embodiment, the mobile phone may have severalclient applications 110, one for each remote device.

In an exemplary embodiment, the application 110 resident on the mobilephone is developed in Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME), based on SunMicrosystem's Internet-standard Java™ programming language. The J2MEplatform is the java platform for consumer and embedded devices such asmobile phones, PDA's, TV set top boxes, and in-vehicle telematicsystems. Mobile phones such as the Motorola i50sx, i85s, and the i90care just a few examples of mobile phones currently loaded with the Java2 Micro Edition software. The J2ME platform provides a broad range ofnetworking protocols.

A user could download the application over the wireless network forinstallation on their phone. Alternatively, the application could bepre-installed on the mobile phone prior to its purchase by the user.Alternatively, the user could download the software using an Internetconnection to their desktop or laptop computer, and later transfer theprogram to their mobile phone for installation. For example, datatransfer cables can often be purchased for transmitting data from acomputer to a mobile phone. Also, Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15) and infraredcommunications are other methods which allow for transmission of databetween a computer and mobile phone.

The client application 110 accepts inputs from the user. In oneembodiment, the program generates an extremely small event identifierwhen an input key is pressed on the mobile phone. For instance, pressingthe ‘1’ key on the mobile phone might generate the hexadecimalidentifier 0x31. The identifier is sent via the mobile phone network toa server 120 located at a central location.

The address of server 120 may be hard coded into the client application110 on the mobile phone. In addition to IP based protocols, SMS, orShort Messaging Service protocols could also be used to transmit datafrom the mobile phone.

Server 120 comprises further software 130 configured to receive datafrom the mobile phone and to convert the data into the proper formatsuch that it is recognized by a multimedia device. Server 120 may alsocontain a list of the known devices to be controlled from the user'smobile phone. Once the data received from the mobile phone has beenconverted into a command recognizable by a device, it is forwarded on tothe appropriate device, as indicated at 150.

In another embodiment, the identifier is sent from the mobile phonethrough the mobile network and the Internet to the multimedia device.FIG. 3 illustrates such an embodiment. In such an embodiment, themultimedia device 150 further comprises software 160 that interprets theidentifier generated by the mobile phone 100 as a remote controlcommand. Based on the unique IP address of the mobile phone, thesoftware on the multimedia device is able to associate the command tothe desired action on the device.

Alternatively, the mobile phone can connect to multimedia devicesthrough a computer (such as a PC) running software that accepts multipleIP connections. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment whereby acomputer 170 is connected to one or more devices 150. Computer 170further runs software 180 that is configured to receive messages from amobile phone 100 and interpret the messages into commands recognized byone of the devices 150. Computer 170 may therefore be a home computer,and a plurality of devices 150 may be connected to the computer. Thedevices may be connected as peripheral devices such as through as USB orserial connection. The devices may also be connected to the computerthrough a wired or wireless network.

In yet another embodiment, the client application 110 present on themobile phone 100 is configured such that each key press generates theactual command as recognized by the remote device. The clientapplication resident on the mobile phone interprets the commands inputby the user directly into commands as recognized by the remote device.The commands can then be sent directly to the device.

The present invention could be used in a number of applications.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of how a user could use a mobile phone toremotely control and interact with one or more of a plurality of deviceslocated within their own home. For example, a home computer runningsoftware in accordance with the present disclosure can be connected witha plurality of devices in the user's home. For example, home electronicssuch as a television, set top box, digital video recorder such as Tivoor ReplayTV, VCR, DVD player or recorder, or home stereo system could beconnected to the home computer. Furthermore, home appliances such aslight systems could be controlled.

Software resident on the home computer could also be accessed.

For example, a game present on a computer could be played remotely byusing one's mobile phone. In an exemplary embodiment, a java enabledmobile phone such as the Motorola i85s phone, and a J2ME applicationrunning on the phone acts as a game controller for an applicationrunning on a PC. For example, the phone application connects by way of asmall server program to a simple flash movie. The movie is of anairplane flying. Pressing buttons on the phone sends messages to therunning Flash movie. These messages cause the plane to slow down orspeed up, move up and down and fire a missile.

Furthermore, the number of players allowed to participate in game playcan be increased. For example, if 10 people are playing a spaceshipshooting game, player 5 controls the red spaceship. Player 5 presses the“Fire” button on his mobile phone (for argument's sake, the “#” key).The application interprets the key-press as hex identifier 0x23. This issent via IP to the multimedia computer running the game. The applicationrunning on the computer knows that it has received the “Fire” commandfrom the IP address of player 5 and fires the lasers on the redspaceship. Because there is two-way communication between the mobilephone and the computer, the computer can send messages back to themobile phone. In the spaceship example, the multimedia computer mightsend data used to simulate radar images of nearby opponents.

In another embodiment, a mobile phone is used to control alocation-based-entertainment prototype. A connection is made directlyfrom the mobile phone to the application. By sending applicationmessages from a mobile phone, pre-defined 3D animations and soundeffects of well-known animated characters is accomplished.

The present invention could also be used to inexpensively increase theinteractivity in theme-park ride queues. Queue entertainment could bedeveloped without worrying about the expense and durability ofcontrollers. Games could be displayed on monitors located in the ridequeue and guests could use their own cell phones in line to interactwith the game displayed on the monitor.

The present invention could be used to implement large-scale “Who Wantsto Be a Millionaire?” type attractions. The present invention could alsobe used to cheaply create large-scale multi-user experiences using largeprimary display screens. The present disclosure could be applied equallyas well for quiz games, or shared multimedia experiences, like the crowdpainting pictures on the water wall of the Disneyland Fantasmic show.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments has beenpresented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to theprecise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possiblein light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of thepresent disclosure be limited not by this detailed description, butrather by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of remotely controlling a remote deviceusing a mobile phone, comprising: accepting a persistent networkconnection at a central server from at least one mobile phone; receivingcommands at the central server from the mobile phone through thepersistent connection; providing software configured to translate thecommands received from the mobile phone into commands recognized by aremote device; wherein the remote device is a multimedia gaming device;wherein said software is provided to a plurality of user mobile phonesin a defined environment as a scalable user interface; transmitting thecommands recognized by the remote device to the remote device through acommunications network, wherein the transmitting occurs by a mechanismselected from the group consisting of sending data through SMS messagingand utilizing a TCP/IP network protocol; and updating a queue displaylocated within a theme park responsive to said commands recognized bythe multimedia gaming device; wherein the commands correspond tomultiplayer game commands configured to operate objects with amultiplayer game displayed on the queue display; and wherein themultiplayer game is a quiz.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein commandsfrom the mobile phone are input by a user through the mobile phonekeypad.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said providing comprisesproviding software to said mobile phone to simulate a remote control ofthe remote device.